Group Accuses Boston Mosque of Radicalism

BOSTON – Allegations of potential radicalization of Islamic teachings at a Boston-area mosque are raising serious questions about the spread of anti-American sentiment here in the United States.

The newly formed Citizens for Peace and Tolerance (search) claims the Islamic Society of Boston (search) has contacts with terrorist organizations and points to the group's longstanding relationships with radicals like Yousef Al-Qaradawi — who was once asked to be an honorary trustee of the ISB but is currently banned from entering this country.

"They have publicly identified him as a moderate Muslim even though he has recently called for the murder of all Americans in Iraq [and] he praises suicide bombings," said CPT spokesman Dennis Hale, a Boston College professor.

The ISB declined FOX News' request for an interview, but pointed to its Web site. There, the group admits inviting Al-Qaradawi to be a trustee but denies he held a leadership position.

The controversy comes at a time when the ISB is building a new $22 million mosque —bankrolled, Hale said, mainly by Saudi Arabia. As a result, he believes, the teachings spread by the ISB will be those of the fundamentalist form of Islam called Wahhabism (search), which perpetuates the idea that "Muslims are at war with the rest of the world (and) Infidels need to be fought."

The danger, Hale added, is that "the same kind of madness that destroyed the Middle East will now be planted here, where the hope was [that] a moderate Islam would grow."

The ISB says it doesn't have a militant agenda, and just this week announced the appointment of a board to develop a new governance structure. They have apologized for failing to condemn offensive remarks sooner.

Click on the video box at the top of this story to watch a report by FOX News' Alisyn Camerota.